The 1947–48 NHL season was the 31st

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

. Six teams each played 60 games. The

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

were the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winners. They defeated the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

four games to none. This season saw the introduction of a new trophy –

Art Ross Trophy The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the league by former player, General Manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has ...

– that would be handed out to the player who scored the most points during the regular season.

Regular season

The season saw the return of the National Hockey League All-Star Game, an idea that, although proposed in the previous season, came into fruition this year. The all-star game, however, saw a bad ankle injury to

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

forward

Bill Mosienko William Mosienko (November 2, 1921 – July 9, 1994) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks. He is best noted for recording the fastest hat trick in ...

that nearly ended his career. Other stars would retire, ending both the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Punch line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...

and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

' Kraut line. However, this season saw the creation of the

Production Line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...

. The policy of having players raise their hockey sticks to signify that a goal was scored was also initiated in this season, at the suggestion of Frank Patrick, with Habs forward

Billy Reay William Tulip Reay (August 21, 1918 – September 23, 2004) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Reay played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1953 to 1953, winning two Stanley Cups. He then coached from 19 ...

being the first to do on November 13, 1947. The season also saw Boston's

Don Gallinger Donald Calvin Gallinger (April 16, 1925 — February 3, 2000) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played 222 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins between 1942 and 1948. Born in Port Colborne, Gallinger was one of the leag ...

suspended indefinitely pending an investigation of gambling activities and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

' Billy "The Kid" Taylor being expelled for life for

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

. Seven games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks made, at that time, the biggest trade in NHL history. The Maple Leafs sent five players to the Black Hawks in trade for

Max Bentley Maxwell Herbert Lloyd Bentley (March 1, 1920 – January 19, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL) as part of ...

and rookie winger Cy Thomas. Thomas only played eight games that year but Bentley handed to the Leafs a much-needed offensive boost that helped propel the team to first overall and an eventual Stanley Cup. The

decided to make a trade to improve their fortunes and sent

Hal Laycoe Harold Richardson Laycoe (June 23, 1922 — April 29, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and Boston Bruins between 1945 and 1956. Aft ...

, Joe Bell, and George Robertson to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in exchange for Buddy O'Connor and defenceman

Frank Eddolls Frank Herbert Eddolls (July 5, 1921 – August 13, 1961) was a defenceman in the National Hockey League who played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, and coached the Chicago Black Hawks in 1954–55. He won the Stanley Cup with Mont ...

. Montreal missed O'Connor, as their goal-scoring plummeted. Ken Mosdell was out from the start of the season with a broken arm, Rocket Richard had trouble with a bad knee and Murph Chamberlain broke his leg. In an attempt to boost the goal-scoring, Montreal traded Jimmy Peters and Johnny Quilty to Boston in exchange for Joe Carveth, but the rot continued. However, the worst occurred on January 11, 1948, when the Canadiens played the Rangers at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

. The Habs lost more than a game when Bill Juzda checked captain Toe Blake into the boards, breaking Blake's ankle and ending his career. It was also the end of the famed "Punch Line". (Ironically, that same night,

Johnny Quilty John Francis Quilty (January 21, 1921 – September 12, 1969) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played 125 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) playing for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. He was awarded the Calder ...

's career was ended with a compound fracture of the leg). The Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time since 1940, and

Bill Durnan William Ronald Durnan (January 22, 1916 – October 31, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). During his career he was one of the most domin ...

, for the only time in his career, failed to win the Vezina Trophy. This season was also the last season in which a goaltender was allowed to be named captain of their team. Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in NHL history to be captain. Toronto's Turk Broda won the Vezina this season.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Semifinals

(1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (3) Boston Bruins

Toronto defeated Boston four games to one, although Boston kept it closer than the series tally would indicate. Three of the five games were decided by a single goal.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) New York Rangers

It looked initially to be a close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Rangers won the next two to tie the series. Detroit then took the next two to win the series in six games to qualify for the Finals.

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards

Turk Broda Stanley Cup-Vezina Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

''GP = Games Played, TOI = Time on ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO =

Shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (dependin ...

Coaches

*Boston Bruins: Dit Clapper *Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig *Detroit Red Wings:

Tommy Ivan Thomas Nathaniel Ivan (January 31, 1911 – June 25, 1999) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He served as a National Hockey League (NHL) head coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 1947 to 1954 where he won three Stanley Cups, ...

*Montreal Canadiens:

Dick Irvin James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. (or II) (July 19, 1892 – May 16, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and th ...

*New York Rangers: Frank Boucher *Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1947–48 (listed with their first team): *

Ed Sandford Edward Michael Sandford (born August 20, 1928) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played most of his professional career for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Playing career Sandford played his junior hock ...

, Boston Bruins *

Paul Ronty Paul Ronty (July 12, 1928 – April 22, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. Ronty started his National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins in 1947. He also played for the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. He ...

, Boston Bruins * Metro Prystai, Chicago Black Hawks *

Marty Pavelich Martin Nicholas Pavelich (born November 6, 1927) is a Canadian former ice hockey left winger. He played ten seasons for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League from 1947 until 1957. Pavelich is the last surviving member of the Red Wi ...

, Detroit Red Wings *

Red Kelly Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly (July 9, 1927 – May 2, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area riding of York West from 1962 to 1965, during which time he als ...

, Detroit Red Wings *

Floyd Curry Floyd James "Busher" Curry (August 11, 1925 – September 16, 2006) was a Canadian ice hockey right winger. Curry was born in 1925 in Chapleau, Ontario and raised in Kirkland Lake by his parents Dalton and Mable Curry. He played junior hockey wit ...

, Montreal Canadiens * Tom Johnson, Montreal Canadiens *

Gerry McNeil Gerald George McNeil (April 17, 1926 – June 17, 2004) was a professional ice hockey goaltender who won three Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens between 1947 and 1956. With the Canadiens he won the Stanley Cup in 1953. Career McNeil first ...

, Montreal Canadiens * Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens *

Ed Kullman Edward George "Eddie" Kullman (December 12, 1923 – March 15, 1997) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 343 games in the National Hockey League, all for the New York Rangers. Kullman is related to former Hershey Bears player ...

, New York Rangers *

Fleming MacKell Fleming David Mackell (April 30, 1929 – October 19, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played with two Stanley Cup winners in his 13-season National Hockey League career. Playing career After a stage with St-Michaels, the Toronto Ma ...

, Toronto Maple Leafs * Tod Sloan, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1947–48 (listed with their last team): * John Quilty, Boston Bruins * John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks * Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens * Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers * Phil Watson, New York Rangers * Billy Taylor, New York Rangers * Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs *

Nick Metz Nicholas John Metz (February 16, 1914 – August 24, 1990) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Metz was the brother of Don Metz. Awards *Stanley Cup ...

, Toronto Maple Leafs

References

* * * * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1947-48 NHL season 1947–48 in American ice hockey by league 1947–48 in Canadian ice hockey by league